Foreign reporters reef junket cost $88,000

The foreign affairs department spent $88,000 on a junket for international journalists as part of a wider lobbying campaign aimed at preventing the Great Barrier Reef being listed on the United Nations' conservation agency in danger list.

The reporters went on a four-day tour to Brisbane, Gladstone, Townsville and Hamilton Island in March, a Senate hearing was told.

Greens senator Larissa Waters took issue that the Queensland Resources Council had been invited to brief reporters and accused the mining lobby group of misrepresenting a scientific study.

Department officials said tourism operators, marine park management, state government officials and farmers had also been given the chance to address the delegation.

UNESCO released a draft decision late last month that the reef will be left off the list but it still expressed concern about the outlook.